7611K - 9/19/16 Recap - Season 45 Premiere

[Torgo]

http://www.qwizx.com/tpirepguide/?p=8956

Lineup:
Switch?* - L
Plinko - PL ($2,600)
That's Too Much! - W
Coming or Going - L
Hole in One - L
Balance Game - L

(Hooray for a three-car game show!)

[TinoStar11]

Nice show to start Season 45.
Cool to see Switch? played for 2 cars
It only the 3rd time Switch? was played for 2 Cars , most recently the Season 34 Season Premiere: 9/19/05
Nice to see 3 Car Games in one show.

[JT]

George should have opened Switch? saying "Two New Cars!" not "A new car....and another new car!"  Create some excitement!  I also would have played Let 'em Roll vs. Hole in One on Season Premiere day.  I liked the clips; hopefully we'll see more throughout the week!  Too bad Plinko's lesser cash awards didn't get an upgrade to start Season 45.
 

[sideshowPA]

Starting off the season with 2-car Switch is appropriate - also agree that "2 New Cars!" should really be the copy here.

Seems like there was cosmetic work done to Plinko, but wondering if they overhauled the whole prop, pegs and all.  Seemed like Drew was surprised by how the chips were moving around today.

I really thought that Lincoln would have been more pricey.  Makes me want to look into getting one...pretty snazzy car. 

[DRPrice]

Hard to believe it's closing in on ten years since Bob regularly hosted.

[TPIRFan2000]

On the positive side, I loved the intro to the show - very well-arranged mix of old and new clips. Loved how the light borders in the intro resembled Door #3 as well (although we could do without the massive dollar signs). 3-car days are always nice to have too, and Plinko 2nd was nice too considering how rarely it gets played 2nd these days (to think that used to be its most common slot).

It's a real shame that we only got 1 full win today, because the setups today were easy for the most part. Hole in One shouldn't have been lost so early, and I'm still baffled at how Switch? was lost - that was practically begging to be won. Definitely agree that "2 new cars" would have made a better reveal for Switch?, too.

(also, gotta love the sweet irony of Showcase 1 having a "Breaking News" theme, considering how a good portion of this episode got pre-empted by breaking news )

[shell_game]

I like the new contestant's row.  But the brightness of the illuminated borders almost overpower the readouts. I'm not sure how I feel about the big door frames as the light border at the opening.  I get what they're going for, but it just looks kind of odd.

Did they also redo or replace the red arrow/beeper of the big wheel?  It looked different to me.

[ThatDonGuy]

I like the new contestant's row.  But the brightness of the illuminated borders almost overpower the readouts. I'm not sure how I feel about the big door frames as the light border at the opening.  I get what they're going for, but it just looks kind of odd.

I think the problem with the illuminated borders is, the green border blends in with the green of the fourth readout - they need to make the green background darker.

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

i remember seeing a similar border used in the 90s Mexican version (the one with the salsa version of the US theme song)

[JayC]

I liked the new light border although I find the rotating dollar signs distracting. The 45 years logo after the first four are called down is nice. I liked the changes to Contestant's Row also.

It's always interesting to see a game played for two cars, too bad it was two of the cheaper ones the show uses and it was lost. Also nice to see a 3 car game show!

Surprised to see Hole in One played, I didn't see that coming. It was also great to see a salute to the original Cullen version, and I'm surprised that Showcase wasn't worth more.

I liked that they played some clips, although it felt like most of them were also used last season in Decades Week.

[PayingTheRent]

I didn't think it was possible to make the light border even more hideous than it was before, and yet, somehow, they accomplished just that.  Incredible. 

If you take away those god-awful, spinning dollar signs (seriously, does anyone actually like them??) and allow the border to run continuously across the bottom of the screen (as it does at the top), rather than having it imitate the way the Barker door borders flow downward, then they might have something there.  Right now, it's a cluster(expletive).

Contestants Row has a brightness overload now, particularly in the yellow and green spaces.  It was almost impossible for me to read the displays at times, and I have a pretty decent television.  I don't mind the look of the LED backlighting, but something is going to have to change, whether it be the shade of green of the backlight itself or the colors on the displays to something darker.  Bringing back orange to the third display and making the fourth display a darker shade of green might suffice.

Those are pretty much my only gripes.  The show itself was decent.  It's a shame CBS had to cut in for us East Coast viewers (albeit for a perfectly justifiable reason), but the majority of the show I did see was certainly up to par for a season premiere, by all means.  No complaints there.

Switch? for two cars isn't a new concept, per say, but it was a fun way to kickoff the new season.  I thought the setup was relatively simple from a LFAT perspective, but I can see how it might trip up the average contestant, as both cars are certainly on the low end of the price spectrum.

Normally, That's Too Much appearing in a season premiere episode would annoy me, but when it's the second car game to be played in the first half?! Definitely didn't see that one coming!  What a treat!  I really thought that Frontier was worth over $30K after George's description, but I was wrong.  Awesome win, and even more incredibly, two freakin' car games in the first half!!!

The Cullen mention in the Showcases with a freakin' clip was something that totally came out of nowhere.  It's nice to see that version of the show be given some love by its younger sibling!

[Off_trak]

I hadn't noticed this before,  so perhaps it's a new thing, but I see during Hole in One they placed a little golf ball sticker on the floor, like they do with Pay the Rent.

[GuyWithFace]

The Cullen mention in the Showcases with a freakin' clip was something that totally came out of nowhere. It's nice to see that version of the show be given some love by its younger sibling!

And more interesting, I believe those clips are from the pilot or a very early episode of the series. The set, particularly Bill sitting at a desk, gives this away, whereas the February 21, 1957 episode in the DVD set has the standard set.

[plinkoboard]

I had a feeling the prices in Switch? needed to be switched.  Who'd have thought That's Too Much would've prevented a skunking?  I thought going was the correct price too.  Great showcase bids by both players.

[SteveGavazzi]

Holy crap, the light border's a Big Door.  I'm honestly a little bothered by the fact that the bottom of the light border no longer has, well, lights, but I have to admit it looks pretty awesome.

Has the show ever announced before that a new game would be debuting on a different episode?

Yay for finally having another three-car day!  I really hope this comes back as an occasional thing this year instead of just being a one-off.

How weird is it that a season premiere's only win would come from That's Too Much!?

Major props for playing Hole in One on a premiere.  Major props also for leaving in Drew almost screwing the game up.

Never did I think I'd actually see clips of the Cullen version on the current show, let alone a showcase themed around them.

If you take away those god-awful, spinning dollar signs (seriously, does anyone actually like them??)

Yes.